Have you noticed that the Boston Bruins haven’t been hesitating to send rookie defenseman Matt Hunwick onto the ice against some of their opponents’ toughest lines? Well, your eyes are not deceiving you.

Head coach Claude Julien said recently that the while Hunwick’s been earning the staff’s faith with his solid play, that in turn is boosting Hunwick’s self esteem. And that’s helped the Bruins survive without Andrew Ference and Aaron Ward.

“He’s responded well. And I think what’s happened there is, not only his confidence but our confidence in him being able to do the job has grown as well,” Julien said. “He’s a young player and you always have to be careful how you utilize him and the situations you put him in. But so far he’s answered those situations in a very positive manner. And I think the more we see of that, the more we’re putting him in those positions. Top players on other teams usually have speed and skill and he’s got pretty good mobility. So they’re going to need to be pretty fast to get around him.”